Maharashtra: A look at Shiv Sena leaders under Enforcement Directorate radar
Shiv Sena is facing an uphill task to keep running the Maharashtra government amid the ongoing political crisis and the recent ED notice to their MP is not helping the cause either
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut is the latest to come under the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) department amid the ongoing Maharashtra’s political crisis. Raut was summoned by ED in connection with an alleged money laundering case.
READ: ED summons Sanjay Raut over land scam
However, there are other Sena leaders who have been summoned over the course of time and some of them have joined the Eknath Shinde-led cadre of rebel leaders.
“There are at least 17-20 party MLAs on ED, CBI and IT radar and want to get out of their predicament by jumping ship. Other 10-15 rebels who are also involved in various businesses also fear getting ED notices,” Raut had said responding to a question on Sainiks deserting the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition.
Here are some Sena leaders who have been summoned by ED over different cases:
Anil Parab
The transport minister of Maharashtra and Shiv Sena’s key strategist Anil Parab is facing an ED investigation in a money laundering case related to a resort in Dapoli. He recently spent six hours of questioning on a third consecutive day.
READ: ED summons Maha minister & Sena leader Anil Parab in money laundering case
The central agencies have been grilling Parab for several months over the irregularities in resort construction in Ratnagiri’s Dapoli. The Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change had filed a complaint against the Sena minister for violating environment protection rules, based on which, ED filed a money laundering case against him.
Pratap Sarnaik
Three-time MLA-turned Shiv Sena rebel is being investigated by ED over a ₹175-crore money laundering case. The central agency had earlier attached ₹11.35 crore worth of Sarnaik’s properties in an alleged ₹5,600 crore fraud at the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL).
Sarnaik was among the first to urge Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to end differences with BJP and save Sena leaders from being “harassed by central agencies”.
Yashwant Jadhav
Former BMC standing committee member and two-time corporator, Yashwant Jadhav is facing an investigation from IT and ED in a hawala network linked with him. During raids conducted last week, the IT department found evidence of his alleged involvement in international hawala transactions and routing of ill-gotten money to certain foreign jurisdictions. ED is probing the case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Bhavana Gawali
Shiv Sena MP has been facing an ED investigation in a money laundering case related to an NGO she runs. Her close associate Saeed Khan had earlier been arrested in September 2021 and ED had attached an office space worth ₹3.5 crore.
ED alleged Gawali and her associates to criminally conspiring to convert the NGO into a company under the Company Act through forgery in January 2020.
Arjunrao Panditrao Khotkar
A close aide to CM Thackeray, Sena leader Arjunrao Panditrao Khotkar has been under ED’s radar over a Maharashtra bank money laundering case. The agency had found irregularities in Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) worth ₹25,000 crore.
The sugar factory, SSK Limited, linked with Khotkar has failed to repay the loan from MSCB. The firm was established on 235 acres of land and 100 acres of it was acquired without any monetary consideration.
